The issue of torture citizens in the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies requires a comprehensive approach, Valeriya Lutkovska, the Ukrainian parliamentary ombudsman on human rights, said.
“We will not solve the problem by creating only one agency to
investigate torture. There needs to be a comprehensive approach,”
Lutkovska told a round-table meeting titled the Unavoidability of
Punishment in the Context of the New Criminal Procedure Code held in
Kyiv on Oct. 11.
Lutkovska said the authorities need to work with law enforcement
agencies and courts before creating a body to investigate reports of
torture in the law enforcement agencies.
Lutkovska also pointed out that judges should stop accepting evidence obtained through torture.
“If courts had refused to consider admissions of guilt by people who
said they were tortured into admitting guilt, we would not have many of
the cases that are now being tried in the European Court of Human
Rights,” she said.
Tetiana Mazur, director of Amnesty International in Ukraine, called
for the creation in Ukraine of an independent agency to investigate
complaints regarding law enforcement agency actions.
